[Nawo]

Even on the water, the air here was warm. Nawo was now months away from her homeland, picking her way across the impossibly vast world by coast and island. Her single-person outrigger was as small as a vessel designed for long-distance travel could be, and it was crudely made compared to the larger vessels she had passed. For all the sights she had seen, and strange creatures she had met, the warmth was what had truly caught her off guard. Even in the warmest of her summers, she could scarcely remember sweating from just being in the sun.

The land on the horizon loomed large and strange in the spring sun. It was not green, nor white, nor black, like the lands she had seen before. It looked like a sandy beach that simply did not end.

"I see the coast!" Nawo's eyes lit up in excitement, pulling on the rope lashed to the sail to better catch the wind. She looked up to her many guides. "My thanks." The birds were flying high enough that she needed to yell. Their cries were distant, but the meaning was clear.
"No trouble to add one more to the migration," The tailing bird responded, resting her wings as the others cut the path through the air for her. "Even strange ones that do not fly." Nawo grinned at the remark. Perhaps she was strange, but her heart felt light. It has been so long since she had found anything truly new, and now every day brought something alien and strange. Birds she had never seen leasing her to lands that had once been myth.

"Take care!" Nawo raised her hand in farewell as their paths, briefly converged diverged. They heading for their breeding grounds, and Nawo searching for a safe place to make landfall.

The coast was deceptively treacherous, with many rocks and reefs. It seemed a secluded cove would be the best place to make landfall - the trees, though sparse and strange to her eye, indicated there should be fresh water there, as well.

As she guided her vessel inland, she swiftly realized that she was not alone in doing so. Another vessel on her starboard side. She raised her hand in friendly greeting, her joyous mood not dampened in the slightest.

"Irankarapte!" Perhaps the greeting would have been better in Sisam-Itak, but surely others spoke her tongue out here, in this vast, vast world?

[Naoto]

I CAN'T SEE ANYWHERE

THAT WE COULD GO

"I'm telling you, it should be fine," Naoto mumbled, their arms crossed with their back leaning against the edge of the boat. Their boat had been anchored off a shoreline somewhere in Kaze no Kuni, for the time being. At least, that's where the locals said that it had been--when the leader of the gang had explored the area to scout out resources.
    It didn't seem overly dangerous, so far. Naoto only hoped that things would stay that way. If the land was fairly vacant due to it's harsh and unlivable climate, then perhaps it meant they wouldn't run into as much trouble as they had whenever they'd made camp nearby local villages. The further away they were from the public, perhaps the better.
    In which case, then it was only a matter of being able to survive.
    Something Naoto was still unsure was doable in this region.
    Still, for the time being, the gang was going to stay put. At least, until some kind of trouble rose up. Again.
    We'll run out of shorelines to flee to at that point, the leader thought to themselves, wrapping a hand around their chin. Going inland didn't seem like the right call--at least, it should only be a last resort. Their boat was small--but it had been an excellent resource of security so far. Mobility, storage, security, and most of all--freedom.
    A voice called out to them, and Naoto turned their head to get a glance of the arrival of the stranger--what appeared to be a woman in a tiny boat (did it even count as a boat?) who was approaching. The child glanced at the woman curiously, before their dark eye flashed over to one of their band members--and they quickly waved the other child off. "Get down," they hissed, urging the other child to hide as they turned their attention to the woman.
    Naoto stepped up onto the ledge of their boat's railing, balancing themself with ease as they looked upon the approaching stranger.
    "WHO GOES THERE?" They hollered out--not overly hostile, but their expression hardly seemed inviting either.

Nawo | 349 words | more comments here

KRATOS

[Nawo]

Still managing the sail, Nawo looked up to the one who had responded to her hollered greeting. A... child? That was a little perplexing, especially considering the state of them. Then again she was fairly young when she set out to hunt and explore, so she was in no position to judge harshly.

Nawo kept her hands away from her bow and weapons, smiling broadly in what she hoped was a universal message of peace and friendliness. She understood most of what was said, at least.
"I am Nawo," She said plainly, her accent thick and pronunciation a little stiff. "I go to land," Nawo explained further, pointing out to the cove. "Do you go to land? Can go..." Her brow furrowed underneath her headband. What was the word?

It escaped her. She instead brought her hands together. "Humnanda." She pointed to herself, then up to the child, then repeated the gesture of joining her hands, hoping that the meaning would overcome the language barrier. Sisam-Itak could be such a puzzling tongue. "I know this land no. You can help?" Despite her genuine friendliness, she was prepared to defend herself if it came to it. She may be new to these lands, but she had traveled enough to know that what thissnd lacked in lethal weather and biting cold, in made up for in other sources of danger.

But she would rather flee than fight if it came to it. Killing or wounding children was something she had avoided until now, and Nawo wanted to keep it that way.

[Naoto]

I CAN'T SEE ANYWHERE

THAT WE COULD GO

Naoto watched cautiously as the woman's expression melted away into a bright smile. Getting a better look at her--she looked foreign. Different from what many of the natives of these lands seemed to look like--by the pattern and cut of her clothing, to the structure of her features. But she also was dressed differently than anyone Naoto had seen in their homeland.
    Probably not someone hunting us, specifically, they thought to themselves. The weapons the woman had with her meant she knew how to fight or at the very least hunt to survive--but that made her no different than Naoto and the other children on the boat. At the very least--she seemed friendly, and she radiated a certain kind of warmth that was disarming. Rather, she didn't seem to be any real threat to the band.
    Judging by her strong accent and struggle to communicate in the local dialect, more than anything, she would probably sooner need help than she would trying to sabotage a possible force of aid.
    "I am Naoto!" Naoto shouted, placing a hand on their chest as they shared their introduction in turn. Waving their spare hand to signal to the others, a few other heads popped up to look over the railing cautiously. "We--sailed--here," they explained, demonstrating with wide waves of their arm as they gestured out to the sea and then toward where they had made anchor. "You--sailed--here," they mirrored the wave of their arm to demonstrate their understanding of the woman's situation.
    It was the exact same as theirs.
    They were both foreigners to these sands.
    If she was no threat, perhaps they could help each-other. While Naoto was unsure how the woman could be any use to them--so long as she didn't pose any threat to them or the others, then Naoto didn't mind if they served some use to her.
    "Do you need help?" Naoto asked loudly. They were unsure if the woman would understand--her grasp on Japanese seemed to be pretty poor overall. Though, it didn't matter too much in Naoto's eye. Glancing over their shoulder to look at some of the other members of the gang, Naoto asked, "What do y'all say? She looks like she can fight, she might make a good ally. Seems friendly enough."

Nawo | 378 words | more comments here

KRATOS

[Nawo]

Nawo looked and listened intently, and it seemed that the child was fairly sharp - picking up her awkward grasp of the language and using simple sentences, punctuated by gestures. It seemed they were both foreigners to this land. Not exactly what she was hoping for, but cooperation was preferable to the alternative.

Especially since she had yet to see an adult on the vessel. Perhaps it was simply her maternal instincts, but a seed of worry sprouted within her.

"E. I help you. You help me. Okay?" Reciprocity was surely a universal gesture of goodwill. What that help would look like could wait until they were not shouting at each other over the wind and waves. She slowed her craft, and made a lazy wheel around so she didn't drift out too far. "Many rocks. Somo cip pere." She indicated around her vaguely. She may not have been familiar with the area, but she was an experienced explorer and sailor in her own right. "Follow. Ku'e'ehomaruye. O yan." Hopefully her pleasing expression would communicate the invitation well enough. The proper expression came to her after a moment. "Please. Follow."